


Nighttime Excursions

by analogoose



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Beginning of Season 4, Best friend shenanigans, Developing Friendships, Drama, Humor, Rated T mostly for language, Vigilante Best Friends, Vigilante! Daisy, post-season 3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-24 17:17:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19728193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/analogoose/pseuds/analogoose
Summary: *Post-season 3 when Daisy is a vigilante* What if Daisy had met another vigilante instead of the Rider?What the world knew: Senator Nadeer had a brother, Vijay Nadeer, that went missing a few months ago.What the world didn't know: Senator Nadeer also had younger sister, Pooja Nadeer, that changed her last name and ran away after their parents' death.Nowdays, Pooja Nagar is low-level secretary at a multinational firm by day and LA's most notorious vigilante by night. She’s a firm believer that vigilantes always have it hard (the pay at her job is atrocious. Last year, she had resort to buying a couch from her neighbor’s yard sale). During one of her nighttime "excursions" Pooja runs into the infamous Quake and her life only spirals downhill from there.She should have just moved to Iowa when she had the chance.





	1. Excursion

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: See end of chapter for notes.

**LOCATION: Wilton Rd, Downtown LA**

Just as Pooja was about to reach up to her face and adjust the itchy ski mask she had stolen from her neighbor's yard sale, one of the Watchdogs shot an energy blast that Pooja had to block and redirect at her opponents. Seven years of her having her powers and she still had a lot to learn. For now, all she knew how to do was make things go boom. Yes, she had a _lot_ to learn. Locals knew her as Kyro, while her current opponents called her—

"Inhuman scum!"

—That. She was really tired of all these foolhardy dog watchers mislabeling her. She refused to be associated with those Fantastic Four rejects.

She surveyed the area, taking note of the number of Watchdogs that were headed her way. Two. Nope. Four.

…And that number was only growing.

Time for more extreme measures. She curled her left hand into a fist and watched as all the remaining Watchdog members started convulsing. "Can an Inhuman do that?" she asked with a coy smile.

She uncurled her fist and watched all of them collapsed on the ground, coughing up blood.

Atoms are the building blocks of cells as Pooja's fifth grade science teacher would say. Get those building blocks up to a high enough temperature and cells will start to explode.

Who knew. Certainly not Pooja who had only discovered this little surprise after accidentally killing a little rat out of anger.

In her defense, the rat had been poking holes in bags of food found in her pantry. She was tired of the four-pawed, hairy-tailed creature having the audacity to sift through her hard-earned grain without paying rent.

Her eyes darted to the security camera mounted on a corner of a building. To break or not to break. She figured she could leave the government chicken hogs a nice gift, they might appreciate the free show she was putting on for them.

Pooja walked over and ripped off the mask of the Watchdog that had called her an Inhuman. She grabbed his hair and yanked him up so that she could be eye-to-eye and watched as his eyes filled with fear, the revelation setting in. She was pretty sure he peed his pants too. Wow, an embarrassment to last a lifetime. Well, he didn't have long anyway, it was only a matter of seconds before he died.

She leaned in to his ear and whispered, "It's Kyro."

* * *

**LOCATION: Deloitte, Downtown LA**

Every Wednesday, Pooja would find herself a spot on the roof of an abandoned building where she could enjoy her sandwich in peace while watching the sunset.

Today had been a particularly trying day. After listening to her coworker babble on about his Sunday cookout fiasco and stopping a young hooligan from stealing an old lady's car keys, the day had completely wiped the floor with Pooja's butt.

Not to mention that she was about to miss the sunset if her feet moved any slower.

As she trudged up the final set of stairs and opened the door that led out onto the roof, Pooja was rudely greeted with the sight of someone already occupying her sacred spot.

She huffed. Today was really testing her patience. Pooja slammed the door on the roof and the figure jumped. "Hey! Who—"

Pooja's arm went slack and her sandwich dropped to the floor. _Motherf-_

"You're Quake." She deadpanned. _Fucking great._ Her dinner was ruined, she had missed her view of the sunset, and now she was face-to-face with a scary (if not one of the scariest) superhero vigilante. This day was getting better and better.

Quake took a step back, arms ready at her sides. "You know me, but I don't know you. Hardly seems fair." She challenged.

She stared at Quake, dumbfounded that this is what her life had come to. Pooja narrowed her eyes. There was no way Quake didn't even have a little inkling of what her moniker was. Oh well, maybe she was just clueless. Pooja shrugged it off and decided to fix her gaze on the sky behind her. "Everyone knows you. Kinda hard not to when you're on the evening news almost every day."

Off the corner of her eye, she saw Quake flex her fingers. Pooja exhaled. Time to test her. "It's Nano. That's kinda what I go by. Desk jockey by day and—"

Quake raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Vigilante by night?"

She huffed. Did Quake buy the lie? Hard to tell. This wannabe superhero was even more insufferable in person. "That's a strong word coming from someone like you."

Quake snorts. Her arms are crossed now, but she looked more relaxed than she did before.

Pooja rolled her eyes. She tried to get a better look at Quake's face but found that most of her body was placed in the shadows. How convenient. Maybe boom box girl hadn't left her brain at home today. "I don't care what you do so long as you don't interfere with my work here."

Quake cocked her head inquisitively. "And what exactly is your work here?"

The sky was getting darker now and the sun was long gone. The sandwich sat there, long forgotten.

Even through the darkness, Pooja could feel Quake's continued stare weighing on her back. Damn, earthquake powers who? She definitely had owl powers for sure.

Pooja hummed as she looked out over the distance. "Oh the usual. Tormenting the general population on weekdays and robbing the rich elderly on weekends."

She turned back, only to find Quake raising her eyebrow in an unimpressed stare again. "Sounds like something I should stop."

"Not if you know what's good for you, doll."

Pooja's fingers itched to pick up her sandwich off the ground, but she tried to quell the urge and crossed over to the edge of the building and sat down on the ledge.

She dangled her legs over, feeling a light breeze pass by. She found her gaze drawn to a lady across the street, struggling to carry her groceries. Maybe she should help that woman, but really she had met her daily requirement for good deeds of the day. And interacting with a wannabe superhero that could quake her off the roof if she wanted to, was the limit.

Almost having forgotten that Quake had been standing behind her, Pooja turned her head to ask a question only to find the roof empty.

"Where th—?" An angry huff escaped her mouth. "Fucking hell. She took my sandwich."

* * *

**LOCATION: Classified**

"Sir, this is the fourth time in a week that we've picked up chatter over police comms about the same vigilante in the Los Angeles area."

Coulson turned around, his face pensive. "Have we ran them through facial recognition? Are they on the index?"

Mack tapped on the screen to bring up footage. "Security cameras have been unable to get a good look. Whoever it is always keeps their mask on. All seven of the Watchdogs collapsed as soon as they got close to the vigilante. We're suspecting some sort of energy field. Maybe the vigilante is an Inhuman?"

Coulson sighed. "Continue monitoring the vigilante. Alert me if anything escalates."

Mack turned the tablet off, but didn't leave the office. His brows furrow. "Sir," he slowly began, "could Daisy do this?"

Coulson put the papers down and turned around. He sighed again. Age lines were more visible across his face than they had ever been. The past few weeks had been hard for everyone. "I'm as desperate to find her as much as you are, Mack, but we can't jump to conclusions. We don't even know if this new vigilante is friend or foe."

He was about to walk back to his desk when he stopped and turned to face the agent. "Alert me the next time the vigilante is sighted. Maybe it's time we visited LA."


	2. Detour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics - Pooja's Thoughts

* * *

**Location: Dunberry Apartment Complex. Apartment No. 307.**

Pooja dropped onto her couch, letting out a long sigh. Her apartment was in a state of disarray. She lazily surveyed the room before rubbing her eyes and turning on the TV. Why hadn't her flatmate washed the dishes? Oh that's right, Alyssa had moved out a couple weeks ago after seeing Pooja stumble in at 2:41 a.m., dripping blood all over their newly furnished wooden floor.

These last few months had not been kind to her. With all the bad publicity her senator sister had gotten (her death had been the _only_ good publicity in Pooja's opinion) and the rise in hate groups against super-powered individuals, Pooja had been stretched so thin that she could have given Reed Richards and his rubberized ass a run for his money.

Granted, Ellen Nadeer should have had no effect on Pooja's life after she changed her last name and erased any evidence of the Nadeer family having another sister, but Pooja couldn't help but feel responsible for her murdered brother. At this point, the least she could do was give her brother a proper burial. She had scoured every inch of ATCU databases and her sister's files for any information about Vijay and just where his body could have went, but she had found nothing. Her best guess was that he had been dumped into the ocean by Ellen's henchmen. And if that was the case, then she might as well give up now because she was never going to find a body.

Pooja squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to think about Vijay anymore. Her eyes started drooping, she was so exhausted. Today had been a long day. Pooja said that to herself every day, but today had been a _particularly_ long day.

Just as sleep was about to overtake her, a shot rang out.

Pooja jumped off the couch, alert and panting, eyes darting to her window. Ugh, she just wanted to sleep. Was that really too much to ask for? Pooja fell back on her couch, exasperated. Being a vigilante was too much work, she should just quit now before a target was painted on her back in permanent marker.

In the distance, she heard another shot.

Pooja scowled, glancing at her window again before opening up her computer to search for active comm frequencies in the area.

"Alright...show yourselves my pretties…" Her fingers danced over the keys as she tried to zero on the comm frequency.

::—Inhuman down! She—::

::—Still running, Bravo team are you in positio—::

Oops, so maybe an Inhuman had been shot. And _maybe_ Pooja should have reacted a bit faster. Whatever. If the Inhuman had at least one working brain cell, then they should have no trouble handling themselves for another few minutes. Pooja threw her laptop on the couch and ran over to her kitchen table to grab her mask and put on combat gloves just as the feed cut out.

She ran back and pulled up the last known location on her laptop just before the comms cut out. "Torine road, gotcha."

* * *

**Location: 5 blocks away from Dunberry's. Corner of Torine Rd.**

Her tires screeched as she braked right before the corner of the alleyway nicked her car.

She cut the ignition. "Goddamn, that's going to be a bitch to repair. Guess it's on foot from here." Pooja cursed as she slammed her car door shut.

With her night job, it was a miracle her 2007 Toyota Corolla had managed to survive this long. At least this time she remembered to switch license plates before she left her apartment.

The last time she forgot to do that, a fanboy had found out her identity and wouldn't stop stalking her for a week. She had considered killing him when she spotted him almost following her into a fitting room at Walmart. Instead, she decided to be merciful and break his leg instead so he couldn't follow her. Never let it be said that Kyro wasn't kind.

She turned another corner in the alleyway just as a figure came running out of a building. Pooja quickly took cover behind a dumpster. "Okay think, Pooja, was that a Watchdog or an Inhuman?" She heavily panted as she leaned on the dumpster. " Either way, both are dangerous." Her pulse raced.

The back of her head thumped against the dumpster. "I am so not cut out for this job."

After a few minutes of mentally resigning herself to the mess that she was about to get into, the top of Pooja's head peeked out from behind the dumpster. "Okay, coast is clear." She muttered to herself and sprinted to the entrance of the abandoned warehouse, praying to the lord that nobody saw her. She really did not want to get into a fight without any of her gear.

A loud crash resounded through the building.

"Fuck fuck fuck! Really regret coming here." She ran to take cover again. Her back leaned against a wall of crates. The warehouse was so dark she could barely see more than five feet in front of her. Where were her night vision goggles again? Oh that's right, at home, _along with everything else except her damned itchy mask._

Her left hand touched something wet and she quickly brought up it while trying to muffle her squeak. She was just caught off-guard, that's all. Kryo was never afraid of anything. However, the same could not be said about Pooja. But weren't they the same person? _Debatable._

She brought her hand close to her face to examine what her hand touched. "Oh that's blood… Might be the Inhuman's from what the comms said." She mused.

Pooja relaxed and closed her eyes. Her senses tried to hone in on an area where electrons were buzzing more excitedly. Electrons in human bodies were found to be in higher excited states compared to other objects. She didn't know if the same applied to Inhumans, but she figured it couldn't be _that_ different. Once she located the clusters of electrons buzzing, she could map them to figure out what the source was. Another handy trick from her powers. This one was a little more discreet than blowing up human cells...and a lot less messy.

Having successfully located the source, she opened her eyes. "Aha, found you."

Pooja ran over to a corner in the warehouse that was in a complete state of disarray. Her eyes scanned the various boxes and crates—was that a dog cage?—strewn around before she caught sight of an arm.

She quickly marched over "Hey—" just as the figure scrambled up into a standing position against the wall with one arm poised to…quake her?

"Oh my god…" Pooja exclaimed in shock as she stepped closer.

"Stay back!" The figure warned with her arm still up.

Pooja quickly held both of her arms up in a gesture of surrender. "Wait! It's me! We met on the roof a couple nights ago and you stole my sandwich?"

The figure sighed as she dropped her arm and leaned against the wall, panting heavily. "That was a really good sandwich."

Pooja snorted. "Yeah? Well I'm still waiting on you to Venmo $6.57 for stealing my food."

Quake let out a loud wince before sliding down the wall and that's when Pooja noticed the trail of blood that slid down with her.

"Hey wait, you're bleeding we need to get you some medical attention." Pooja squinted as she tried to make out more than just the tip of a nose and high cheekbones in the dark.

"No hospitals…" Quake breathed out.

"Don't have enough money to foot your hospital bill anyways.. And by the looks of it, neither do you." Pooja grumbled. "At least let me take a look at it, we need to get the bullet out." She was not concerned for this thorn-in-the-side Inhuman at all, no she was not. She was just doing another good deed… Probably her 50th good deed of the week. Lord… when had she gotten so soft.

"For all I know you could be an axe murderer." She could barely hear Quake's voice in between the heavy gasps she seemed to be taking.

Pooja fixed her with an incredulous look. "Really woman, have a little more faith in me. I have class." She carefully helped Quake up into a standing position while shouldering most of her weight so the fool didn't aggravate her wound even further.

"I parked my car just around the corner, so hopefully it's still there."

Quake grunted. "What, your car has a habit of getting up and walking away whenever it feels like it?"

Figures pain would bring out the snarky side in earthquake girl. It was kind of endearing. Behind her mask, Pooja's mouth quirked up into a tiny smile.

"Close. You ever heard of Transformers?"

Maybe this day wasn't completely ruined after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So there you have it! Pooja and Quake meet again! You guys will be hearing more about Pooja's powers and what they specifically do in the next few chapters! As always, updates will every Monday!
> 
> Let me know in the comments down below what you liked about this chapter and what you would like to see next! How will their next interaction go?
> 
> See you all next time!


	3. Tour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics - Pooja's thoughts

She threw her keys on the coffee table and quickly helped Quake lay down on her couch. "Well there goes my brand new couch. Another thing you owe me for." She called out as she made her way to the kitchen.

"Brand new? This couch reeks of dog pee. It looks like it was taken from a junk yard." Quake's muffled voice rang out from the cushions.

Pooja threw an unimpressed glance behind her in the direction of the dimly-lit living area as she rummaged through her kitchen cabinets in search of a first-aid kit. For someone whose second profession literally involved getting hurt, she didn't really seem to have a whole lot of medical supplies. "Careful or I'll suffocate you right into the couch cushions you bloodied up."

"So not an axe murderer, but definitely a serial killer." Quake's voice called back. She was laying flat on her stomach with one side of her face resting on the couch cushions. Her eyes tracked Pooja as she neared, first-aid kit in hand.

Pooja could finally see her face now. Golden brown hair cascading down her head. It was cut short and looked like it had almost been chopped haphazardly, maybe in a public restroom, Pooja mused. The life of a vigilante wasn't all it was cracked up to be, _that_ , she knew from experience. Her eyes were soft and warmth radiated from them despite the chilly demeanor she tried to hold up.

Quake cleared her throat, breaking Pooja's gaze. "So you gonna take off the ski mask anytime soon…?"

As Pooja tried to grab supplies to soak up the blood, her hands faltered. "It's not a ski mask, it's actually a balaclava."

Quake's face scrunched up into a look of confusion. "I thought that was a dessert."

"No it's—" Pooja huffed, setting the bandages down as her face morphed into a look of defeat. How could someone be this ignorant she would never understand. "Never mind."

Unperturbed by her mistake, Quake continued talking. "You know it's like bad for you right? That material looks really itchy."

Goddamn earthquake girl was not going to let her go on this one was she. Pooja continued rummaging through the first aid kit in search of some antiseptic and bandages, pretending she hadn't heard anything.

Quake quirked an eyebrow. "So do you actually know how to use this stuff or am I going to be your first test subject?"

Pooja's nostrils flared as she finally pulled out the bottle of antiseptic she had been looking for. "Do you always talk this much?"

Quake smirked, eyes filled with an unspoken challenge. "How else am I going to give thanks to all the good samaritans that patch me up on their stolen couch?"

Pooja hummed as she poured some antiseptic on the bandage before slapping it onto the bullet wound. "You could start by telling me exactly why you were playing tag with the Watchdogs."

Quake grimaced. Whether it was from Pooja's rough treatment or the question, she would never know. The next few moments were silent as Pooja quickly worked to remove the bullet and patch the wound. Her eyes scanned over Quake, taking note of any remaining injuries before settling on the nasty bruises that littered across her arms. She quickly got up. "Be right back." She called as she walked in the direction of the bathroom.

A few minutes later she emerged from the hallway, with a small white bottle in hand. "Here. This should help with the shitty tattoo look you're sporting on your arms." She threw the bottle of bruise cream at Quake.

Quake reached out to catch the bottle and grinned. "Anyone ever tell you that you have horrible bedside manner?"

Pooja's lips twitched into a smile. "Nah, none lived to tell the tale."

Quake raised an eyebrow, a smile playing on her lips. After a few moments of silence, she spoke up. "They're tracking us."

Pooja stopped reorganizing the first-aid kit and turned to face Quake. "Inhumans?" She asked.

Quake nodded as she pulled out a slip of paper from her pocket and handed it to her. "Taken right from SHIELD's index."

Pooja glanced at the list of asset numbers and locations. There was blood splattered everywhere. _Gross._ "This is bad. Should figure out who the leak is before it gets worse. Do you know who on here could be their next target?"

Quaked glanced around the room helplessly. "I have no idea. So far, three have already been crossed out. The rest…..?" She trailed off, shrugging her uninjured shoulder.

"You don't know." Pooja finished, eyes flitting back and forth between Quake and the paper in her hand. "Okay well, I assume you're not on this list otherwise you wouldn't be looking like my eight-year-old sister when she tried to run away from home after mom wouldn't let her have more than one glass of soda."

Quake looked affronted. "I didn't…. It wasn't about soda."

"No? Juice maybe?" Pooja questioned. Didn't matter to her. Whatever happened that made Quake look like a teenage runaway wasn't her problem. "Anyways, do you know of any Inhuman that's in LA right now?"

Quake eyed her. Pooja rolled her eyes. Should have figured the Fantastic Four rejects and the Watchdog hog heads all shared one brain cell. "I'm not an Inhuman and I'm not on SHIELD's index either."

"But you definitely have powers? That confirms my first theory." _Shit._ Pooja had walked right into that one. Oh well, earthquake girl would have figured it out sooner or later, not like it changed much.

"And the second?" Pooja asked.

Quake got off the couch and limped over to where Pooja was standing. "I've heard rumors about a figure clad in black going around and doing some 'avenging.'" She said, raising her hands to make air quotes.

"Avenging?" Pooja skeptically asked while on the verge of breaking out into hysterical laughing.

Quake stepped closer, analyzing her movements. "They also called you Kyro, bringer of death and destruction."

Pooja's eyes hardened. "Crime rate in LA have dropped because of Kyro." Why was she trying to justify herself to Quake? Her head pulsed with a sharp pain. She reached up to rub her temples. Why did it matter when she was going to be rid of her in another hour or two.

"All the while Kyro's kill count skyrockets." Quake countered, a sharp look in her eyes.

Pooja slightly tensed. Who was Quake to judge her when she was going around and doing the same thing? "Could say the same about you. Destroying banks and bridges, Miss Richter Scale. How many died in those?" Her head was pulsating even more now. She needed to get some painkillers.

She took in the sight of the girl in front her, exhausted, barely managing to stand on her legs. She let out a breath and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to chase away the pain in her head. "If you're staying the night then you're going to have to sleep on the couch."

Quake gave a tight smile. "Thanks."

Pooja was about to go grab some blankets from her closet when she saw Quake's eyes widen. Oh dear. She could just feel her headache about to get worse.

Quake limped over to her kitchen table, hand clutching the side of a chair as she scanned for her things. "One of my friends," the words rushed out of her mouth, panic evident on her face, "she told me she was going to be in Miami tomorrow for a bachelorette party."

Pooja rubbed her eyes. "Lady, I said LA not all the way on the other side of the country."

"I've gotta go." Quake limped around the table, trying to grab her bag when another hand reached out and took it away from her.

"No you don't." Pooja replied, one hand lazily clutching the bag, the other ready to knock Quake into a wall if she needed to.

"My friend is in danger! I can't let the Watchdogs kill her too!" Quake shouted as she made a desperate attempt to grasp the bag in Pooja's hand.

Pooja moved the bag away from Quake. "You can barely walk!" She clenched her fists. "How are you even planning on getting a flight out to Miami? With the money you're stealing from banks? Not to mention, two Inhumans are no match for an entire task force! I've seen what the Watchdogs are capable of."

Quake pressed her lips together in a thin line, panting heavily. "So what are you suggesting?"

Pooja bit her lower lip. "I go in with you. They don't know me and they definitely won't be expecting me. And, I don't look like I'm going to collapse any second."

Quake frowned. "How do I know you're not someone that's working with them?" She challenged.

"You don't." Pooja agreed. "But you know my MO. You said it yourself; vengeance." Pooja held her breath, eyes darting to look at Quake's face, analyzing her reaction. "And vengeance will be mine."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Dun dun dun... There you have it! Next chapter, we will get to see Quake and Kyro fighting together! As always please kudo and comment, I love to hear my readers' thoughts. See you all next Monday!


End file.
